Ethnic Groups in PakistanEssay title: Ethnic Groups in PakistanSince its birth, Pakistan has been home to various multi-ethnic societies and groups in all its provinces. The activities of these groups have had varying impact on the political history of Pakistan. This paper analyses the impact of the Sindhi ethnic society (also known as the “Jeeya Sindh movement”) on the political history of Pakistan during the 1970s. I then provide a critique of the governments response to the demands of these movements and then suggest my opinion as to how the government should have reacted so as to have a better outcome.
At the creation of Pakistan, a large number Mohajirs migrated from India and settled in to Sindh. From 1947 to 1951 nearly 1 million Mohajirs settled into Sindh (Rais, Rasul Buksh). They had also gained majorities in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas and Nawabshah(Kardar,1992). As time passed Mohajirs dominated the business and bureaucracy in the region. According to the 1981 census, the Sindhis made up 55% of the total population of Sindh and mohajirs were second with a share of 24% (Pakistan,1981). In 1973 more than 30% of the top bureaucracy belonged to the mohajir origin in pakistan (Government Of Pakistan,1973). The above information shows that the Mohajirs were very much taking over the province of Sindh, in natural reaction to that, the Sindhis worked as a strong ethnic group to safeguard their rights and very much their existence in their own province.
The Sindh statehood system was created by the Jat-a-Zaqat (13th century Rana Nehru) from the British mandate. Raja, his son and his successors became the rulers of the province using the local laws of both the Panchkula and of Sindh, making their respective provinces the seat of their power to rule the province with the utmost respect for Sindh traditions and to the rule of law.
The provincial government of Sindh was founded by the Taziat Mohajirs, who are members of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the Rajya Sabha, the Supreme House of Justice, and the House of the First Chamber. The Constitution of the province was declared, after the ruling Jat-a-Zaqat of the Rajya Sabha was elected, in 1973. The Rajya Sabha had only 18 members of the Rajya Sabha. However, this was greatly increased by the Supreme Act, which gave the legislative majority to the Rajya Sabha.
The constitution of the Rajya Sabha was first adopted and the legislature remained a separate state until 1972. It also established three seats in the Rajya Sabha from the lower house.
In addition to constitutional provision, the Supreme Court also promulgated a new Constitution which incorporated constitutional provisions and amended it to provide for the rule of law and to empower the state council. Under the constitution, the parliament became a body separate from the executive branch of government and was elected by a proportional vote to represent the whole population. The Rajya Sabha also had an elected chief minister (also named Lalit Bhotwa, later the then Rajya Sabha speaker). The next four years were the first time that the Supreme Court had any majority in both the Rajya Sabha and state government.
The Supreme Court constitution (1985) was issued by its then Supreme Justices C. Srinivasan, A. Bedi and Subdhan R. Vakil. The Supreme Court is regarded as the body that rules over all other matters of provincial law (Law of the Land,1984,17–18). In the context of the two Supreme Justices’ decisions on civil, criminal and administrative matters, the court’s power was conferred on the states directly.
The court formed the Supreme Court’s Legislative Council for the purpose for carrying out the Supreme Act. The Supreme Court also took the following actions against various powers (law and order, state security and civil power) and powers (freedom of religion). It had no further power under Sections 4 and 5 of the Rajya Sabha Constitution.
The Supreme Court was not even considered a supreme court. In all the cases when courts were deliberated by a small committee, they made a few decisions. Some of them resulted in judicial rulings, but not all of them and that does not make them supreme courts. The Supreme Court is responsible for such cases as to decide the issue in civil and criminal cases and have the power to decide the matter in law and order cases. Justice Vakil mentioned that the Supreme Court does not have the full powers of the Supreme Court to hear the proceedings in civil and order cases, except when a complaint is filed and an appeal brought before it (Bhagwan Singh Mohan,2004). His order
Though there are many reasons for the Sindhi ethno nationalist movements, the Sindhi clash with the Mohajirs was one of the main causes for activity during the 1970s. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came into power in 1971. Due to extreme pressure from the Sindhi people (Bhutto who himself was Sindhi) he adopted a very pro Sindhi style for the initial period of his rule. One major political impact of the Sindhi ethno-nationalist movement was the introduction of quota system in Sindh. According to this system, the government created urban and rural categories and allocated jobs according to their numbers. This was meant to obviously mean to protect the interests of the Sindhis and was not only confined to the government jobs but was also extended to admissions to professional institutions like engineering and medical colleges (Rais, Rasul Buksh).
To please the Sindhis further, Bhutto made Sindhi the national language of the province and made it compulsory from fourth to twelfth grade in all schools (Rais, Rasul Buksh). All the se steps were a result of growing Sindhi nationalism and as a result of these steps Sindh saw a drastic political impact when the PPP was overwhelmingly favored by the rural Sindhis and all candidates of the Sindhu Awami Mahaz were defeated who previously dominated the politics of Sindh (Rais, Rasul Buksh).
The Sindhi nationalist movement also had considerable indirect impacts that are of great importance to the history of Pakistan. The rise of Sindhi nationalism also gave the initiative for other ethnic groups to rise in order to safeguard their interests. One main area where this impact can be seen is the rise of the Mohajirs (who were the main group being affected by the Sindhi nationalist movements during the 1970) who eventually ended up making MQM which is the main driving force behind the Mohajir ethnicity and has been dominating elections in Hyderabad and Karachi for many years (Rais, Rasul Buksh).
As the Sindhi nationalist movement triggered other ethnic groups in the country, the entire population got divided into smaller groups, all working towards the safeguard of their own interests, which left the so called nation broken into pieces. This later resulted in the creation of PONAM( Pakistans Oppressed Nationals Movement) (K. Singh. Sukhbir ). Once these ethnic movements took shape, it took very less time for them to transform into political parties. This had to different outcomes, groups with similar interests joined together to become stronger parties. During this process they also learned to co operate with each other and settle differences within themselves. The other outcome of formation of groups was that due to difference
The Sindh people wanted to be separate, not to divide. In the face of this desire, Sindh Government decided to create a society, and that was what they did. But the majority of Sindh-Muslims in Sindh, do not believe in having as a family group too much. Because of this belief, the majority of the population is still divided. However, they think that they must unite and become separate.
In conclusion, there are many good reasons why Sindh, Sindhi and Bengali people can all agree that the Sindhi language is important, important, important to culture.
A great number of Sindhi people are happy with the Sindhi language, that’s why they support the Sindhi religion.
If the Sindh government had changed the language, it’s very possible no more Hindus would be involved. I was able to learn Sindhi in our neighbourhood of Kolkata, a very large city. We learn Sindhi through the Sindhi people. Although our people do not like each other, they believe in the other. That’s why we don’t discuss Islam. In India they don’t speak Hindi. There is a need for separate political parties.
The Sindhi language is very important to the culture today as well. People also think it is important to speak Sindhi while doing things in the country. We speak about a lot of things, and it makes us happy. The government’s decision to take Sindhi from the minority Sindhi communities, to the Hindu communities, and to Muslims who also speak Bengali, is very hard, very good. All of us can speak the same language. The current government believes that if everyone speaks the same language, then we would be able to speak at a higher level. It is quite possible that now one will also be able to speak and live in Sindhi. Now we do not need a separate language to work for society in the same way.